Pais Vasco: Alaphilippe wins opening stage
Quick-Step rider escapes with Roglic on final climb
Quick-Step Floors extended their winning streak into Spain, with Frenchman Julian Alaphilippe taking out the opening stage of the Vuelta al Pais Vasco in Zarautz over Primoz Roglic (LottoNl-Jumbo).
The pair escaped on the steep final climb with 9km to go with Movistar's Nairo Quintana, but left the Colombian behind on the upper slopes before forging out a 23-second lead on the sinuous, hair-raising descent that followed.
Roglic led into the final 200 metres, giving Alaphilippe the jump. While the Slovenian mounted a spirited return, his bike-throw fell half a wheel shy and Alaphilippe claimed the stage and first leader's jersey.
Pello Bilbao (Astana) led the chasing group to the line for third.
With the time bonus, Alaphilippe leads Roglic by four seconds, with Bilbao at 29 and the rest of the chase group at 33 seconds.
"I am very happy, especially as I got sick after Milan-San Remo and had to rest before returning to training," Alaphilippe said. "I was very motivated after this small setback, so I worked hard to be back at my best. The plan was to take a stage here and even though we did a recon of the final climb yesterday and on paper it suited me, I didn’t know how my legs would react following that break.
"I was focused, smart and strong, I worked well together with Roglic, who too was very strong, and in the end I bided my time before powering to this nice win. A big thanks to my team for protecting me today and to the amazing crowds, who cheered for us before the start and at the finish."
How it unfolded
Vuelta Ciclista al Pais Vasco kicked off on Monday with some tired legs on the start line as riders like Vincenzo Nibali arrived to Zarautz after competing in the previous day's Tour of Flanders.
It was no easy start to the six-day race with five categorised climbs during the 162.1km stage. The climbing started with Jaizkibel (8.8km/5.2%), a category 2 ascent at 57km.
A succession of category 3 ascents followed with Maddiola (8.4km/4.2%) at the 84km mark, Garate Gaina (3.5km/6.2%) at the 104km mark, and Aia (9.5km/3.4%) at 139km.
The stage finished with a category 2 climb over Elkano Gaina (2.4km/9%), and from the top it was seven kilometres to the finish line in Zarautz.
A breakaway of four riders cleared the field early on and gained 1:35. Those riders were Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier Werkilu (Dimension Data), Ibai Salas Zorrozua (Burgos BH), Jonathan Lastra Martinez (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) and Aitor Gonzalez (Euskadi Basque Country-Murias).
Their gap never reached beyond the two-minute mark, and finally on the category 3 Aia with 26km to go, they were swept up by the peloton.
Team Sky and Movistar drove the pace on the descent, hurtling down the twisty descent toward the final climb.
It was a flat-out lead-out into the base of the steep final climb, with Team Sky, Movistar and Bora-Hansgrohe battling to position their climbers at the head of the field.
Primoz Roglic (LottoNl-Jumbo) pushed the first split, joined by Julian Alaphilippe (Quick-Step Floors) and Nairo Quintana (Movistar), opening on a solid gap on the peloton mid-way into the Elkano Gaina.
Quiintana surprisingly failed to hold onto the wheel of Alaphilippe as Roglic pushed the pace with 1km to go to the top.
Cheered on by the throngs of Basque fans at the summit, Alaphilippe and Roglic hammered over the crest and onto the fast descent with a 22 second gap on the chasers as Quintana was caught by them.
With Enric Mas disrupting the attempt to close the gap, the duo out front held onto 23 seconds at the line, with Alaphilippe scoring the top time bonus and race lead.
The Vuelta Ciclista al Pais Vasco will continue on Tuesday with stage 2's 152.7km race from Zarautz to Bermeo.
Full Results
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Quick-Step Floors | 4:17:46 |
2 | Primoz Roglic (Slo) LottoNL-Jumbo | |
3 | Pello Bilbao (Spa) Astana Pro Team | 0:00:23 |
4 | Enric Mas (Spa) Quick-Step Floors | |
5 | Gorka Izagirre (Spa) Bahrain-Merida | |
6 | Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe | |
7 | Patrick Konrad (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe | |
8 | Jelle Vanendert (Bel) Lotto Soudal | |
9 | Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | |
10 | Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team | |
11 | Rudy Molard (Fra) Groupama-FDJ | |
12 | Rigoberto Uran (Col) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale | |
13 | Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo | |
14 | Mikel Landa (Spa) Movistar Team | |
15 | Eduard Prades Reverter (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias | 0:00:51 |
16 | Pieter Serry (Bel) Quick-Step Floors | |
17 | Jack Haig (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott | |
18 | Ion Izagirre (Spa) Bahrain-Merida | |
19 | Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Bahrain-Merida | |
20 | Michael Woods (Can) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale | |
21 | Garikoitz Bravo Oiarbide (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias | |
22 | Bjorg Lambrecht (Bel) Lotto Soudal | 0:01:12 |
23 | Rui Costa (Por) UAE Team Emirates | |
24 | Igor Anton (Spa) Dimension Data | |
25 | Alexis Vuillermoz (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | |
26 | Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin | |
27 | Jesus Herrada (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | |
28 | Tsgabu Grmay (Eth) Trek-Segafredo | |
29 | David De La Cruz (Spa) Team Sky | |
30 | Peter Stetina (USA) Trek-Segafredo | |
31 | Jesper Hansen (Den) Astana Pro Team | |
32 | Simon Spilak (Slo) Katusha-Alpecin | |
33 | Hugh Carthy (GBr) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale | |
34 | Diego Ulissi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates | 0:01:35 |
35 | Luis Angel Mate Mardones (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | |
36 | Jose Herrada (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | |
37 | Serge Pauwels (Bel) Dimension Data | 0:01:46 |
38 | Alex Aranburu Deba (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | |
39 | Dylan Teuns (Bel) BMC Racing Team | |
40 | Rafael Valls Ferri (Spa) Movistar Team | |
41 | Luis Guillermo Mas Bonet (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | 0:01:54 |
42 | Jay McCarthy (Aus) Bora-Hansgrohe | |
43 | Jesus Ezquerra Muela (Spa) Burgos BH | |
44 | Carlos Verona (Spa) Mitchelton-Scott | |
45 | Oscar Cabedo Carda (Spa) Burgos BH | |
46 | Sergio Pardilla Bellon (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | |
47 | Hermann Pernsteiner (Aut) Bahrain-Merida | |
48 | Rob Power (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott | |
49 | Felix Grossschartner (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe | |
50 | Mikel Bizkarra Etxegibel (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias | 0:02:24 |
51 | Jan Polanc (Slo) UAE Team Emirates | 0:02:46 |
52 | Nathan Brown (USA) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale | |
53 | Robert Kiserlovski (Cro) Katusha-Alpecin | |
54 | Winner Anacona (Col) Movistar Team | |
55 | Pierre Latour (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | |
56 | Nicolas Edet (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | |
57 | Alessandro De Marchi (Ita) BMC Racing Team | |
58 | Pablo Torres Muiño (Spa) Burgos BH | |
59 | Dario Cataldo (Ita) Astana Pro Team | |
60 | Carlos Betancur (Col) Movistar Team | |
61 | Mark Padun (Ukr) Bahrain-Merida | 0:02:56 |
62 | Léo Vincent (Fra) Groupama-FDJ | 0:03:54 |
63 | Neilson Powless (USA) LottoNL-Jumbo | |
64 | José Joaquin Rojas (Spa) Movistar Team | |
65 | Brendan Canty (Aus) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale | |
66 | Toms Skujins (Lat) Trek-Segafredo | |
67 | Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Team Sky | |
68 | Michael Matthews (Aus) Team Sunweb | |
69 | Omar Fraile (Spa) Astana Pro Team | |
70 | Laurens ten Dam (Ned) Team Sunweb | |
71 | Eros Capecchi (Ita) Quick-Step Floors | |
72 | Sergei Chernetski (Rus) Astana Pro Team | |
73 | Danilo Wyss (Swi) BMC Racing Team | 0:04:52 |
74 | Vasil Kiryienka (Blr) Team Sky | 0:05:15 |
75 | Jan Bakelants (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale | |
76 | Rúben Guerreiro (Por) Trek-Segafredo | |
77 | Jonathan Castroviejo (Spa) Team Sky | |
78 | Enrico Battaglin (Ita) LottoNL-Jumbo | |
79 | Jordi Simon Casulleras (Spa) Burgos BH | 0:05:42 |
80 | James Knox (GBr) Quick-Step Floors | 0:06:31 |
81 | Damien Howson (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott | |
82 | Fernando Barcelo Aragon (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias | 0:07:00 |
83 | Valentin Madouas (Fra) Groupama-FDJ | 0:07:07 |
84 | Jon Irisarri Rincon (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | |
85 | Benjamin King (USA) Dimension Data | |
86 | Igor Merino Kortazar (Spa) Burgos BH | |
87 | Lucas Hamilton (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott | |
88 | Manuele Mori (Ita) UAE Team Emirates | |
89 | Richie Porte (Aus) BMC Racing Team | |
90 | Sander Armee (Bel) Lotto Soudal | |
91 | Daniel Teklehaimanot (Eri) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | |
92 | Daniel Navarro Garcia (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | |
93 | Tosh Van Der Sande (Bel) Lotto Soudal | |
94 | Romain Seigle (Fra) Groupama-FDJ | |
95 | Pavel Sivakov (Rus) Team Sky | |
96 | Tom-Jelte Slagter (Ned) Dimension Data | |
97 | Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier (Eri) Dimension Data | |
98 | Julen Amezqueta Moreno (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | |
99 | Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBr) Team Sky | |
100 | Alex Howes (USA) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale | |
101 | David Lopez Garcia (Spa) Team Sky | |
102 | Ben Gastauer (Lux) AG2R La Mondiale | |
103 | Aleksandr Riabushenko (Blr) UAE Team Emirates | |
104 | Simon Gerrans (Aus) BMC Racing Team | |
105 | Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Bahrain-Merida | |
106 | Fabio Felline (Ita) Trek-Segafredo | |
107 | Rémi Cavagna (Fra) Quick-Step Floors | |
108 | Steve Morabito (Swi) Groupama-FDJ | |
109 | Cyril Gautier (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | |
110 | Lachlan Morton (Aus) Dimension Data | |
111 | Hubert Dupont (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | |
112 | Jai Hindley (Aus) Team Sunweb | |
113 | Ian Boswell (USA) Katusha-Alpecin | |
114 | Chad Haga (USA) Team Sunweb | |
115 | Anass Ait El Abdia (Mar) UAE Team Emirates | |
116 | Jhonatan Narvaez (Ecu) Quick-Step Floors | |
117 | Aritz Bagues Kalparsoro (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias | 0:07:58 |
118 | Johannes Fröhlinger (Ger) Team Sunweb | |
119 | Willie Smit (RSA) Katusha-Alpecin | |
120 | Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Lotto Soudal | 0:08:14 |
121 | Michael Albasini (Swi) Mitchelton-Scott | |
122 | Bert-Jan Lindeman (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo | |
123 | Floris De Tier (Bel) LottoNL-Jumbo | |
124 | Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Bahrain-Merida | |
125 | Bruno Armirail (Fra) Groupama-FDJ | |
126 | Patrick Bevin (NZl) BMC Racing Team | |
127 | Maxime Monfort (Bel) Lotto Soudal | |
128 | Remy Mertz (Bel) Lotto Soudal | |
129 | Michael Storer (Aus) Team Sunweb | |
130 | Christopher Juul Jensen (Den) Mitchelton-Scott | |
131 | Benoit Vaugrenard (Fra) Groupama-FDJ | |
132 | Cesare Benedetti (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe | |
133 | Lawson Craddock (USA) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale | |
134 | Maurits Lammertink (Ned) Katusha-Alpecin | |
135 | Steff Cras (Bel) Katusha-Alpecin | |
136 | Anthony Perez (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | |
137 | Gregor Mühlberger (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe | 0:08:24 |
138 | Aitor Gonzalez Prieto (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias | 0:09:10 |
139 | Victor De La Parte (Spa) Movistar Team | 0:09:37 |
140 | Michael Gogl (Aut) Trek-Segafredo | |
141 | Damiano Caruso (Ita) BMC Racing Team | |
142 | Paul Martens (Ger) LottoNL-Jumbo | 0:09:44 |
143 | Ibai Salas Zorrozua (Spa) Burgos BH | |
144 | Jonathan Lastra Martinez (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | |
145 | Moreno Moser (Ita) Astana Pro Team | 0:09:53 |
146 | Enrique Sanz Unzue (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias | |
147 | Sepp Kuss (USA) LottoNL-Jumbo | |
148 | Nelson Andres Soto Martinez (Col) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | |
149 | Matteo Bono (Ita) UAE Team Emirates | |
150 | Zhandos Bizhigitov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team | |
151 | Stephen Cummings (GBr) Dimension Data | |
152 | Lukas Pöstlberger (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe | 0:11:44 |
153 | Matvey Mamykin (Rus) Burgos BH | 0:16:49 |
DNS | Martijn Tusveld (Ned) Team Sunweb |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Quick-Step Floors | 25 | pts |
2 | Primoz Roglic (Slo) LottoNL-Jumbo | 20 | |
3 | Pello Bilbao (Spa) Astana Pro Team | 16 | |
4 | Enric Mas (Spa) Quick-Step Floors | 14 | |
5 | Gorka Izagirre (Spa) Bahrain-Merida | 12 | |
6 | Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe | 10 | |
7 | Patrick Konrad (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe | 9 | |
8 | Jelle Vanendert (Bel) Lotto Soudal | 8 | |
9 | Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | 7 | |
10 | Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team | 6 | |
11 | Rudy Molard (Fra) Groupama-FDJ | 5 | |
12 | Rigoberto Uran (Col) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale | 4 | |
13 | Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo | 3 | |
14 | Mikel Landa (Spa) Movistar Team | 2 | |
15 | Eduard Prades Reverter (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias | 1 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Aitor Gonzalez Prieto (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias | 3 | pts |
2 | Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Lotto Soudal | 2 | |
3 | Dario Cataldo (Ita) Astana Pro Team | 1 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Aitor Gonzalez Prieto (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias | 3 | pts |
2 | Dario Cataldo (Ita) Astana Pro Team | 2 | |
3 | Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Lotto Soudal | 1 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Jonathan Lastra Martinez (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | 6 | pts |
2 | Ibai Salas Zorrozua (Spa) Burgos BH | 4 | |
3 | Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier (Eri) Dimension Data | 2 | |
4 | Aitor Gonzalez Prieto (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias | 1 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Lotto Soudal | 3 | pts |
2 | Jonathan Lastra Martinez (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | 2 | |
3 | Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier (Eri) Dimension Data | 1 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Jonathan Lastra Martinez (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | 3 | pts |
2 | Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier (Eri) Dimension Data | 2 | |
3 | Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Lotto Soudal | 1 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Team Sky | 3 | pts |
2 | Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe | 2 | |
3 | Gregor Mühlberger (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe | 1 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Quick-Step Floors | 6 | pts |
2 | Primoz Roglic (Slo) LottoNL-Jumbo | 4 | |
3 | Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe | 2 | |
4 | Enric Mas (Spa) Quick-Step Floors | 1 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Quick-Step Floors | 12:54:32 |
2 | Bahrain-Merida | 0:00:51 |
3 | EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale | 0:01:12 |
4 | Movistar Team | 0:01:18 |
5 | Bora-Hansgrohe | 0:01:26 |
6 | Trek-Segafredo | 0:01:33 |
7 | Euskadi Basque Country | 0:02:52 |
8 | AG2R La Mondiale | 0:03:07 |
9 | Astana Pro Team | |
10 | Cofidis, Solutions Credits | 0:03:08 |
11 | Mitchelton-Scott | 0:03:25 |
12 | Katusha-Alpecin | 0:03:56 |
13 | UAE Team Emirates | 0:04:19 |
14 | Caja Rural-Seguros RGA | 0:04:20 |
15 | Burgos-BH | 0:05:20 |
16 | Lotto Soudal | 0:07:28 |
17 | Team LottoNl-Jumbo | 0:07:55 |
18 | BMC Racing Team | 0:08:10 |
19 | Dimension Data | 0:08:51 |
20 | Team Sky | 0:09:07 |
21 | Groupama-FDJ | 0:10:10 |
22 | Team Sunweb | 0:13:41 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Quick-Step Floors | 4:17:36 |
2 | Primoz Roglic (Slo) LottoNL-Jumbo | 0:00:04 |
3 | Pello Bilbao (Spa) Astana Pro Team | 0:00:29 | <